Tuesday, April 7, 2015

There is no denying that man has ascended the Everest of
civilization- the highest of development in almost all aspects of human existence-
in the field of politics, religion, education, literature and culture and
science and technology. The modern man has advance so far that he no longer
spoils his valuable time in search of divinity realizing the futility of
chasing the mirage of that kind and the fruitfulness of toil that exploits the
earthly hidden power of the living universe for the common welfare. Down the
history, we have witnessed a gradual social transformation ultimately resulting
in a hectic change of mans attitude towards the universe and his place in it.
Conclusively it can be said that man has been realistic and materialistic in
dealing with nature as well as his fellow beings as we have seen in the
developed countries of the world. However, we should never be mistaken that
only the material development can bring about the change of mans way of
thinking in those parts of the globe, but rather it is other way round. The
most remarkable aspects of the change of mans attitude towards life and the
world is that he has freed himself from the demonic clutch of superstitions and
his minds eye can see the truth, and the result of which is that whatever man
achieves is due not to the blessings of the Gods but the outcome of his own
efforts. However this new dawn of scientific enlightenment has covered some
certain parts of the globe only, not all over. To mention the blessed areas,
the countries of the Europe, North America the eastern part of Asia and the
Oceania have witnessed that dawn of scientific spirit side by side with
material advancement while the rest is still hobbled with age old superstitious
beliefs, burden with weakness for easy money instead of earning by hard work
and especially weakened with inability to unite as a one nation and finally
maiden with greed and vaulting ambition for political power to enhance
individual social and as well as economic status.

The cursed side of the human world, still far beyond the
touch of the divine light of renaissance in human civilization, is unfortunately
inhabited by the people of our own kind. It is not a matter of great wonder
that we have to point our fingers not to any other than to ourselves. So my
point of view is quite clear that what I mean to say is the Mising community.
In this short essay and honest but an open attempt has been made to touch only
upon the three cancerous ills of the community which not only stands as
distinct evidence of the fact that it has not coped up with the blessed
sections of humanity, but deters the all round progress of the society with the
instinct for reverting back to barbarism of the time before the dawn of human
civilization.

The language; the
tongue cancer

Not to exaggerate, I have all the moral courage to assert
that the Mising language is without any doubt, one of the most logical, the
clearest, richest and softest languages of the world that are spoken by human
beings. But the irony is that though spoken by a large living population, it
has not been constitutionally recognized unlike the sister language “Bodo”
which has already attained the height of development in all aspects. So, Bodo
has made it’s safe birth in the eight schedule of the constitution of India and
become as subject of study upto University level and now an associate official
language of the state of Assam. But the easy question with no answer, “what can
we speak about the Mising language?” is a burning question of the time, to
which every Mising seems to be deaf and blind. We have a rally of intellectuals
working in series of pompus convention celebrated at a certain interval of time
at the cost of large amount of public money and valuable time and energy of the
common people, with no yield to reap by the community. If the language cannot
make it’s journey through beyond the boundary line of the primary schools, if
no literature of high standard ever appears, if the language itself receives no
recognition officially, can it be a language at all? Certainly not. The large
and rich word stock co-existing with the colourful social life and large
population can inspire the Mising language to be highly well organized living
language with a rich literature.Despite
its scope and prospects it still remains dumb with a cancerous disease in it’s
tongue. If a person is unable to express in words how can he think of sharing
his hopes and fears with his fellow beings? Language is the only medium in
which man relays his experience to his neighbours in form of written literature
and thereby propagates not only new ideas but the spirit of unity too. Another
burning question arises- “How many news papers and periodicals in the language
do we have at this point of time?” A language without literary culture must be
termed as a spiritually dumb language. A nation without a written language and
literature even cannot see itself as it is universally acknowledged that
literature is the mirror of a nation, a mirror in which the real looks of the
nation is distinctly reflected. But tragically, do we have such a mirror? Even
if we do have any, it is not polished, so not reflective one. For all this poor
state of affairs regarding our language and literature, who can we find fault
with? Obviously those who are steering the wheel of the whole affairs in the
names of some important organizations like the Mising Agom Ke̒bang, TMPK and few more others of which the former two are
supposed to be the unquestioned guardians of the community must be held
responsible. With regard to the most outstanding aspects of the language,
namely adoption of all acceptable and workable script, official recognition and
inclusion in the eight schedules of the constitution and further, introduction
in educational curriculum as a subject of study from the primary to the
university level are doubtlessly to be taken care of by the social bodies
mentioned above. In this regard the common people have practically no say and
so far the apex body of the language has single-handedly dealing with those
matters and the no remarkable interference from any quarter is noticed as such.But regretfully, the Roman script for the
language has not won the hearts of the lesser practitioners of the missing
literature due mainly perhaps to the alienness of it and some technical
setbacks inherent in it and that is why prolific and standard authors are not
yet born. Besides disappearance of the language even from its place of birth
within a very short time after it was introduced it’s alarming. Nobody knows
what occasion the sudden premature death of the language as a subject of study
in the formal academic world. Even the Ke̒bangs seem not only blind to but dumb
about this hard rending state of the language.

I hope everybody would unanimously admit that the machine has
been now a days propelled by a rally of self styled so called, Pandits whose knowledge of language is
not trustworthy in any count and whose usurpation of the driver’s sheet has
compelled the really enlightened personalities to opt out of the whole business
and take self exile from the realm of the language and the literature of the
community. However, it is honestly advisable that the young stars should not
try to take the upper hand in the matters that involve years efforts and
experience gathered through perseverance and age. The best possible job they
are supposed to do is to observed the activities of the elders and learn and
then wait till their natural turn comes if the community is expected to recover
early from the cancerous ill in its tongue.

The excessive greed
for political power- the brain cancer

The present political scenario in the Mising society is
perhaps the most alarming and ominous symptom of the future state of the
community, even far worse than the state of affairs prevalent now amongst the
Bodos, Karbis, Nagas and many others. In support of this view point of mind I
would like to say that the hard core terrorist of the communities have their
definite goals to achieved not for individual benefits, but for upliftment and
all round development of their own communities and for which they do not
hesitate to shed their blood or cause others to do so, whom they considered
their enemies to do the same in any way, while the totally reverse phenomena
are noticed among the Misings. We must confessed shamelessly that by nature the
Misings are not warrior people, evidence of which is in the fact that no
terrorist organization, no diplomatic pressure group and even no democratically
agitating group do exist in the Mising society. The Nagas have raised guns to
achieve sovereignty, the Karbis to achieve autonomous statehood, the Bodos full
statehood, but what are the Misings doing for without arms in hand and without
audible voice in mouth? It will certainly sound humorous to say that we are not
demanding nor fighting even not asking for but simply expecting the six
schedule of the constitution to creep in through the back door. We are not at
all aware of the hard fact that whatever we have so far achieved is the proof
that somebody has actually deceived us. The name of autonomy may sound much
optimistic but the common people must have sensed that it is not for the whole
community. It is seen to be an official permission for feasting and feasting
all over and the residue is to be converted to luxurious source of
standardizing for a limited few in front of the hypnotized eyes of the innocent
common people.

The political autonomy and rise in standard of living though
for a few, are no doubt great achievements in the sense that the people of
present world are dying for them. However, it is a good thinking that the
Misings have achieved it without shedding a single drop of blood. But rather as
a free gift from the state government though theoretically or exclusively for a
limited few who seem to have used it to enhance their standard of living and
social status. They have gone so far that news from elsewhere spreads from time
to time that some powerful leaders have threaten the innocent people and raised
donations and sometimes even physically and mentally tortured those who oppose
them. It seems those power mongers grasp power not in legal way though
maintaining all formalities of democratic election. Distinctly they do not have
the popular support and leave no stone unturned to dupe the innocent and
threaten the conscious ones who oppose them, in order to win the majority
votes. So far as my practical knowledge of conducting polling activities is
concerned, they mostly harass the polling personnels in different ways to
indulge in rigging votes. So, most of the votes cast in favour of them actually
come through unfair means. In this regard, the security measure taken by the
election commission is so poor and weak that the power hunters face not the
least hindrance in their criminal acts during the polling. In some cases even
the security personnels are easily bribed and made to join hands with the
culprits and at last the polling officers have no alternative to giving way to
the will of the culprits. So, it remains open secret that the elections of
present day time are not free and fair but the more striking aspects of the
whole affairs is that the people who have caught the steering wheel of
political administration are the youngsters without practical knowledge and
experience of life and who have been affected by the brain cancer of power
greed. The political power won by them turns out to be Alladin’s magic lamp
which changes their lives overnights in such a way that the youths of yesterday
waiting for line buses or taxis, ride on motor bikes of high cost today and
will travel in luxurious cars tomorrow. Further, the youths who fed on public
donation yesterday live in gorgeous buildings today and whose forefathers earn
livings as share croppers on others land are rich land owners now. In this way
they are snared in the power cobweb and enslaved by all source of evil spirit and
remain confine within their respective pandamoniums in form of panchayats. When
step out to the great pasture they find no grass to graze totally rejected not
to be any luminous stars unlike their counterparts in the other communities.
They are easily tamed like hungry barking pets with little morsel of the
leftover of food eaten by their masters. The super masters from Dispur throw out
some amount of morsels to the hungry pets barking elsewhere in order that they
never unite but remain divided so that they can be ruled. Perhaps that is why
almost all the aboriginal tribes and communities have been conferred with
autonomy which is nothing more than giving freedom to a flock of hungry pets to
eat the morsels of the leftover of food thrown at them. However, the power
riders of the Mising communities of today seem to be well satisfied with what
they have achieved so far and to have remained loyal to the super masters. In
this situation, this arrangement looks sound and suitable of course, in the
short run but it is ruinous to the community in the long run.

Apart from all these,
the seamiest side of political life of the Misings is that they have no
tradition and convention of “hero worship”. No Mising person can be an all
revered leader nor recognizes any. Most probably, that is why the history is
mute about political activities of the entire community and about the existence
of kings or queens in their folklores. So, this is clear, so long as the brain
cancer of the community affected by the “power virus” is cured by kenneling the
hungry pets who have taken over the charge of the “power kitchen” it will soon
become epidemic making the whole community starve.

The superstitious
beliefs- the heart or lung cancer

Human feelings and scientific attitude are not only the
science of civilization of a people but also the science of sound health and
life process of social existence of them. When the heart or lung of a person is
affected by serious diseases like cancer certainly he loses his natural
capacity to inhale fresh air and exhale the carbon di oxide and the whole body
would be affected. The lungs of the social life of the Misings have been very
critically affected harmful gas like superstitious belief and they have been
filled with that gas in such a way that the social being is in no position to
breed in fresh air like human feelings and scientific attitude. So, the Misings
seem to have loss the power to feel the humanly things like love and compassion
for their fellow beings. Already affected by the harmful thoughts and beliefs
the Misings are also possessed by the most terrifying evil spirit- jealousy.
Out of jealousy in most cases some people forcefully accuse the rather innocent
and meek neighbours of indulging in and practicing witchery. The number of
cases of witchery is numerous in the Mising society. It has become a common
phenomenon in social life of the community. Now and then, the rumours spread
that some men or women have acquired the super natural power to tell people’s
fortune who declare themselves to be some particular gods or goddesses. People
from different places visit those gods or goddess incarnate to know their
fortune. The incarnation of such divine man or woman provides the golden opportunity
to some jealous and cruel people to materialized their evil designs upon those
who are too poor and weak to defend themselves and those who are considered to
be their foes only because they have outshined them in some way or other. Only
on suspicion, those unfortunate fellows are held responsible for illness and
death of some persons around their neighbourhood. In three ways, the so called
witches are caught. The first way is by simply believing in rumours already
spread out. Secondly, by secretly observing the movements and activities of
accused. In this process, if the accused are found in an odd time or at an odd
place they are straight away held involved in witchery. Thirdly, the accused
are caught on the words spelled by the so called gods or goddess incarnate.

We have so far a great number of cases of killings of
suspected witches all over the state. The cases of witchery are seen among the
tribal communities, which is clear proof that they are not yet enlightened by
the divine light of civilization. The striking fact about witchery is that most
of the highly educated person belief and join hands in mission against the
suspected witches instead of doing away with the superstitious belief in
witchery. Even more distressing thing is that though the law never recognizes
the existence of witches and such super natural power, the civil and police
administration play a very passive role in controlling it. In most cases these
authorities seen to support the miscreants against the innocent accused by
remaining silent and uninvolved. In the constant hunt for the “killer witches”,
not only the innocent suffer and jealous people materialized their revenge upon
their self made foes but a number of ill willed people are encouraged to
shatter the god gifted essence of humanism spreading distrust, terror and a
chaotic atmosphere amongst the common people. In former times, suspected
accused were punished physically and made to drink a kind of mixture of human
urine and excrements believing that it would make the mantras, the black
incantation of the witches ineffective and removed from their memory. But now a
days the process of witch hunt has changed. It is seen that the most powerful
and influential and highly educated people of a particular village first form a
strong committee which makes communication with the so called gods or goddesses
incarnate and threatened those innocent persons whom they have already
suspected tobe witches and compel them to surrender and
appear before the god or goddess. An endless current of mass exodus flows
either to have blessings of the so called divine person or to witness the
witches who are going to be punished as the divine person spells. As soon as
the captive appears before the god or goddess, they are asked to confess their
guilties or offences forcefully. If any accused refuses to admit his being a
witch, the divine man puts rice purified and made divine with special
incantation and asked the accused crossed over it. Already weakened and
terrified morally, the innocent accused dare not cross over the rice. Even if
any accused does it, he is compelled to walk upon burning embers of fire to
prove his innocent which is not possible for a living man to do. And that is
all that the accused is proved to be a witch without the least doubt. The next
step is the start of imposing corporal punishment upon the witches. Every eye
witness of the whole procedure would admit that it is far more than inhuman.
Immediately after the offence of the accused is proved, they are made to lie in
a mercy place and remain there day and night for several days bearing the
attack of blood sucking insects like leaches. And when the god feels that the
punishment is enough, the accused are brought out from the place of punishment
and made to undertake that he would no longer dare to practice witchery and fed
some short of anti-dose so that the black incantation of the witches become not
only ineffective but forgotten too forever. And the innocent sufferers have to
accept all the humiliation as their destiny and in most cases remain social
outcasts.

The cases of witchery and the resultant physical torture and
even numerous murders are very frequent and common in the tribal and adivasi
societies, especially in Mising society. It seems from all quarters support for
the anti-witchery mission flood the environment while some innocent people at
stake in that flood of suspicion and cruelty meted out to them. No signal for
rescue of the innocent sufferers is noticed anywhere except some few weak
casual voices heard only to die down before their content is understood and
disappeared from the memory of the once whose voices they are.

If this state of affairs continue to exist without any kind
of resistance for few more decades, it can be easily predicted that there would
be utter anarchy and wide spread genocide all around and ultimately the whole
tribal society would revert to the barbaric state of human existence shattering
all fortification for mankind provided by the magic of science modified by
humanity. So, I would like to appeal to all conscious people to start a mission
to resist the onslaught of ignorance and superstition using our so far achieved
power of scientific knowledge and blessings of divinity bestowed upon humanity
both of which can only raised human beings to the level of the gods in heaven.
In but in this regard one thing is clear enough that not a single tribal or Adivasi
person educated or uneducated can overcome the fear of the unreal, the
hindrance pose by the superstitious believe. Already affected by several
cancerous diseases beyond cure, the Mising community must be rescued by some
godsend from the enlightened and blessed community of mankind. However, a ray
of hope seems to have dawn in the very recent past (after the draft of this
piece of writing was completed) witchery the police ultimately arrested some of
the so called fake gods and goddesses in some villages in the river island of
Majuli.

In these dire hours of hopelessness for the Misings, what as
a member of the community I can possibly do is that I can pray to the Omnipotent that He may be cruel to those who have already assume the Devils
postures spreading all short of evils in the society and be kind and generous
to the upcoming fresh generations and keep them immune from the almost
hereditary diseases mentioned above! And so be it!

The writer is a subject teacher at Jonai Higher Secondary School, Jonai, Dhemaji, Assam. This article originally appeared in Majorbari Yalo, a souvenir published on the occasion of Po:rag festival in 2014 in Disangmukh, Sivasagar. This is published with permission from the concerned author and editor. Views are personal.

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Not only the controversial song is laced with touching lyrics
but it also contains real images of human rights abuse, poverty, genocide, war
crimes, and crackdown on student activists. Little wonder, how this song is
related to Mising society? This too, why in this Lok Sabha poll din?

Jackson’s lyrics were never directed at Mising society but
the song scarred with magnanimous lines relevant to the state of affairs in the
society.Baffled by the lyric style and
images of Brazilian dispossessed colonies of Rio de Janeiro in the video
backdrop, many curiously asked: who were the “us’’? For whom does “Us” applies?

Mising tribe, also common with derivative bombastic tags
like “peaceful”, “riverine”, “hospitable” from colonial to post-colonial
discourses. From colonial Edward Gait to native Surjya Kumar Bhuyan, both noted
modern historians on Assam, this tribe is labelled “peaceful” ethnic group of
Brahmaputra Valley. Recent researchers and historical novelists say they
survived Buddhist persecution and were Miao-Yao descendants, exclusive from the Han
Chinese or Tibetans. ( Refer Peter Pegu’s A History of Mishing Eastern India or
Akademi award winner Chandana Goswami’s novel Ke’yum to know more). It is because
these discourses made Misings often to boast themselves as most peaceful people in
what-is-more known as ’restive’, ‘volatile’ Northeast India.

In the history of Mising political participation in national
elections, this 16th Lok Sabha poll of 2014 is overly talked as one
of the most perplex one as they have found themselves in catch-22 situation.
The nationalist organizations and its avatar have publicly taken unconventional
“neutral stand” giving the people and supporters a free-kick of conscience.
After a historic sweeping to the offices of Mising Autonomous Council (MAC)
last year, the micro-regional party had backtracked in national general poll.

Both heavy weight political figures like Sonia Gandhi and
Narendra Modi came to campaign for their candidates, one at North Lakhimpur and
another at Gogamukh, the headquarter of MAC, respectively. Modi made promises; Sonia
appreciated, over the most heart-touching issue of the Misings, to resolve flood
and erosion.

Deluge hit Mising people who cleared Tarioni
reserved forest near the river Subansiri, also beloved called Obonori, to
begin life anew were mercilessly hounded out by political bigwigs who clouted
it sprawling green tea gardens. Thousands of youth have left for unskilled jobs
countrywide in metros.
Here’s a
story how a Mising boy lurked into joblessness due to mass exodus during
2012 riots in western Assam. There are hundred more. On March 23, 2014, a
Mising village was burnt down in broad day light by recognizable miscreants before
the police in Jagun in Tinsukia only left without a word of condemnation from
any quarters. No one protested, not a single politician minced a word in
support of the distressed.

Neither the civil society of the community is strong. The
middle class and other urban inhabitants seems have loss its roots of rural
Misings in the din of market forces to respond to these multifarious problems.

Chronic poverty in river bank areas, inaccessible health
care facilities, and landlessness is striking social realities. Burdened with
baggage of problems, there is no doubt how many people would realize the importance
of education, a modern indicator of civilization and progress.

There was a
people’s movement for university campus in 2013. No single elected public
representative of their place helped them until some serious-thinking educated
boys met Prof Mrinal Miri in New Delhi to get cleared the red-taped bureaucratic
file upon Assam’s Chief Minister’s order.

Landless Misings have migrated from place to place to escape
the raging
spurt of Brahmaputra river. One will find many villages in the hills of
Guwahati especially in Khanapara and Panjabari. If climate
change and adaptation have to be understood, these people are tell-tale
proofs. Many would share how turned dispossessed in the wake of state’s failure
of flood management, their stories of fertile land turned sand. Those remaining
are besmirched with theory of marginal productivity; more people into
agriculture, less productivity returns. Of course, Misings are becoming accustomed
to poll rhetoric. A Times
of India report would unfold Misings’ intelligence about the cynics of poll
and its aftermath.

Today, the small agrarian Mising community is marginalized
by involution, dispossession and capriciousness. The 16th Lok Sabha
poll is crucial to the Misings and to many other similar subaltern masses.

Visibly state BJP President Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal and Union
Minister of State of Tribal Affairs Ms. Ranee Narah of Congress are locking
their horns in the tempest of Brahmaputra banks of Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency,
where most Mising people live in Upper Assam. Vote bank and river bank are two
issues concerning the Mising vis-à-vis Lok Sabha poll this time. No one has
been asked to support or vote for a particular party’s candidate.

Amidst the vast politics of mighty Brahmaputra river, Misings
have become an oar-less boat without propulsion.

The Misings must stand up to themselves; they must craft
their own future. If not this time, but in the eventful years to come. Misings
are aggrieved, but never felt agitated to make a mark in the politics of
northeastern region. They must stop becoming vote
bank to save their habitats, the river bank. To conclude, the Misings at
best owe to Jackson’s rendition: